Heart Rate Zone Troubles

[zellybelly]

I have a question for you guys. I wear a heart rate monitor when I workout and I have a REALLY hard time getting into my target zone. On my ellptical I have to put the incline up to 14 and jack up the resistence just to get to 70% of my max hear rate. I used to do about 7 miles a day of running (and it was easy to get into my zone) but I am trying to prevent having knee problems. Does this happen to anyone else? Any suggestions.

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Zellybelly (love the screen name, by the way) - will hazard a couple of thoughts here:

#1: It could be that you have gotten too efficient at the elliptical, and are losing the keenest edge of the possible workload because you're doing so much of one protocol. If you aren't already doing so, I'd suggest bringing in some other cardio formats into the mix: step; kickbox; bootcamp with plenty of plyo drills (more on that in a minute); aquatic training (obviously, from my own screen name, a subject near and dear to my heart); cycling (indoor stationary or outdoor); etc.

#2: Often, strict heart rate measurements are overrated as an indicator of how hard you are working. Is yours a strong, heavy beat? Or a lighter one? The heavier and stronger the beat the more the stroke volume through the arteries and veins is, thus the greater the total cardiac output, which is a better indicator of how productively your heart is working. Try to put heart rate in its proper perspective;

#3: In a similar vein (pardon the atrocious pun), how hard do you FEEL like you're working? Can you breathe very easily? Maintain an extended conversation (even if it's with yourself)? Or are you puffing and panting, and can you only breate enough to maintain a short conversation? Is your breathing so huffy-puffy that you can talk briefly but can't sing? (Trust me on that one.) What I've described (and forgive me if you were already aware of this) are the Perceived Exertion and Talk Tests, which are valuable for skilled exercisers. If you FEEL like you're working hard and your breathing rate reflects that, then you are working harder than you're giving yourself credit for.

#4: I find that I work my hardest in terms of cardiovascular challenge when I include plenty of plyo drills in my routine: vertical jumps; tuck jumps; plyo lunges (also referred to as "power scissors" in Cathe's earlier productions); plyo jacks; plie jacks (boy do those burn); the drills in original Boot Camp, Drill Max, Kick Max Blast Challenge, 4DS-BC; squat-thrusts with explosive jumps; sequential power kicks; etc. Feathering these in with step drills and/or hi/lo drills, which varies the impact AND the degree of knee flexion and thigh-muscle recruitment, really, REALLY knocks me into my zone. Also, it makes me sweat a ton, and I've developed great respect for The Sweat Factor as one of my own personal workload indicators.

Just some thoughts. Please give us more information about your current schedule and overall fitness level, and I'm sure there will be other helpful suggestions.

HTH -

A-Jock

 

[zellybelly]

Screen name comes from one of my Dalmatians who is named Zelda and she loves to have her belly rubbed. And I am lucky enough that when I do ab work she comes over and gives me puppy facials (since I am salty and tasty at that point in the workout) and has even backed up and sat on me during crunches, talk about resistance!!! The other Dalmatian and Zelda love to lie in front of my schwinn airdyne bike when I use that (the one with the big fly wheel). They honestly look annoyed when I stop using it they enjoyed being "fanned". That machine by the way is a winner at getting my heart rate up every time I do try to alternate between that and the elliptical.

When I am on the elliptical I have to work really hard to make sure I am getting in my zone. I can talk very easily on it hence not working that hard but when I really concentrate and even do some upper body moves over my head it finally pops into the zone.

I have been trying to stay away from activates that will kill my knees hence the shying away from running. I have seen too many people be forced to give up running as a result. I have had no knee problems ever, knock on wood.

I have never felt coordinated enough to do any of Cathe's cardio stuff and again when I am not in the zone since I am lost in choreography I shy away from it since I feel like I have "blown" the workout time trying to keep up. I have always done her weight routines and love them and I have even ventured into some other DVD's lately too have been very pleased. But my cardio has always been running, biking and the elliptical. I have in the past put in intervals and I guess I need to do them again so my body stops getting too efficient at one activity all the time.

Also when I do cardio it is for 60 minutes at a time and I lift 3 times a week. Been doing that since my 20's and I am fast closing on on the big 4-0.

Thanks!!!

 

[Aquajock]

Hello again, Zel! Hilarious stories about the Dawgs!

I still hold the title of Ranking Klutz of the Cathe Forums, so I hear ya on the choreography issue. If you are willing to contemplate some Cathe cardio dvds, consider those that are based on athletic-style drills rather than tie-yourself-in-a-knot choreography:

Boot Camp (the original, on the same disc as Muscle Endurance);

Drill Max (a stand-alone disc, with generally the same circuit set-up as Boot Camp);

the 4-Day Split Series for its Boot Camp workout; my friend, you haven't even learned how to spell "heart rate" until you do this one. 12 drills and you're dripping by #2. There is some brief step involved but don't let that spook you;

Kick Max, for its Blast Challenge - 15 minutes containing 10 drills, all tough, all drill and no dance.

What is interesting about Drill Max is that Cathe produced it and performed it several months after she herself had knee surgery for a long-standing problem that suddenly popped; the mix of the low-to-the-ground and high-off-the-ground cardio drills are great, IMHO, for keeping the knees in shape.

Again, just some suggestions. HTH -

A-Jock

 

[zellybelly]

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I can definitely do more athletic type drills (but the dogs will have to stay down stairs otherwise they will create an obstacle course)!! Thanks again!

 

[Sunshine 1528]

Have to pipe in quickly to say that my female Giant Schnauzer is named "Izella" which mean Little Princess in German.

We call her zellie and she absolutely loves either her belly or behind rubbed. You're very very lucky if she "allows" you to pet her on her head.:7

 

[nancy324]

Zellybelly,
I also can't reach my target zone on an elliptical. The elliptical, like bike riding, combines cardio and lower body toning all at once. That doesn't work for me because the toning part slows down the cardio part, if that makes any sense. In my case, my heart is much stronger than my legs are. Running is pure cardio. You may be like me: someone who needs to separate her cardio from her toning.

 

[TarHeelMom]

Zellybelly,

LOVE your screen name!

Don't give up on your elliptical trainer!! It's a great piece of knee-friendly equipment (GOOD FOR YOU for taking care of your knees proactively!) -- I LOVE mine. But I'm a lot like you and Nancy. My heartrate soars when I run (which isn't often because I now have prima donna knees), but takes a l-o-o-o-n-g time to climb when I'm on my elliptical.

I've found that if I do a super long (15 minutes-ish) warm-up gradually moving to pretty significant elevation and heavy resistance, my heartrate will eventually climb to and settle in at my steady-state training or "green" zone. I let it stay that way for 1 or 2 minutes, then I do a few more minutes at even greater elevation and resistance until I see my heartrate tick upwards again towards my "orange" or interval zone. Once that happens, I'm ready for cardio interval work and my legs are feeling pre-fatigued, too.

The time it takes me to accomplish this can be pretty annoying x( if what I've planned for the day is a long interval workout like, say, one of the longer Cardio Coaches. Adding MY warm-up to a 55 or 60 minute trek makes for a super-long stint on an elliptical trainer. Yet if I don't do it, I'll be halfway thru the Cardio Coach intervals before my heartrate hits the workout's targets. So it's an okay trade-off for me on the days that I can allow that much cardio time. If I don't have an interval cardio planned, I just include my extended warm-up time in my overall cardio time.

It sounds like you, too, may just need a long warm-up on your elliptical. Try it and see what happens. I find that as long as I have done this kind of warm-up, I am able to do an interval workout like Cardio Coach with my heartrate in the proper zones AND with the resistance and elevation set at not-insane levels!

Hope this helps!

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/sport/sport-smiley-003.gif Kathy S. http://planetsmilies.net/sport-smiley-5536.gif